Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a standardized web feed format that enables users and applications to access updates from websites in a structured way. RSS provides a machine-readable stream of frequently updated content—such as news articles, blog posts, podcasts, or video releases—that feed readers aggregate into a single interface.
The format relies on XML and typically includes metadata like titles, publication dates, and links to source pages. It originated in the late 1990s with Netscape’s RSS 0.90 and 0.91, evolved through the RSS-DEV Working Group’s RDF-based RSS 1.0 (co-authored by internet activist and technologist 📝Aaron Swartz), and was further popularized by RSS 2.0, edited by Dave Winer.
Publishers use feeds to distribute updates automatically, while readers centralize information flow without visiting each site individually. Although adoption shifted with the rise of social platforms and proprietary recommendation systems, RSS remains widely used by developers, journalists, and researchers for open, decentralized, and privacy-preserving content distribution, and it underpins many podcast directories and archival workflows.